Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine So what are you READING?

Three after WaG. Book 5 was Wolves of the Calla, book 6 was Song of Susannah and book 7, recently released, was simply called The Dark Tower. I'm still stuck on book 2. I really hope it gets better otherwise I'm likely to have a bunch more hardback dustcatchers.

I LOVE BOOK 2, and book 3 THE WASTELANDS was an excellent read too. I found the first book the hardest to get through, with WIZARDS and GLASS being a hard read too, but still overall both books are fantastic.

I see i've got a trip to make to the bookstore when i get my first paycheque


btw....Labradorian, are you actually from Labrador or does your name have some other meaning?

I had to give up on the Dark Tower again. Couldn't even get through the second book.

LLad, if you like Caleb Carr, pick up EL Doctorow's The Waterworks. It's similar, maybe a little more stylish.

Actually, everyone should read everything by EL Doctorow. Ragtime, World's Fair, Billy Bathgate, all great books. Compelling stories with little history lessons.

Thanks for the suggestion. I loved the movie adaption of Ragtime back when it came out. Never thought of looking for the novel. After I read the Alienist (I know, I started with the second book) I'll hunt up some Doctorow at the used book store.

Fat Cramer, have you finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell yet? I'm at about page 460. I'd love to have a good block of 3 or 4 hours to sit down with this now.

born and bred, however i now live in nova scotia just like my buddy FAT CRAMER.

Cool beans man....I was born in Goose Bay,but moved to NFLD when I was 5. Good seeing some other East Coasters here

Finished Saturday afternoon - it is best enjoyed in blocks of time, I think. At one point I was even reading it while I was cooking (consequently, that nice white cover isn't white anymore).

Now I'm back to the Nazis. Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth, by Gitta Sereny. The last Nazi-era book I read was amazing, I WIll Bear Witness, by Victor Klemperer. Two volumes covering 1933-1945 - the diaries of a Jewish professor of Romance languages in Dresden. His survival was due to being married to an Aryan, his formerly prestigious position and an awful lot of luck. It was a fascinating account of the small details that make up everyday life under increasing tyranny and chaos.

I *LOVED* Ragtime! Great book written in a very unique and interesting style. Went and saw the musical production too. It was a pretty good adaptation but obviously a lot had to be chopped out. There were also some pretty strong musical numbers but then I'm a big fan of that style of music.

I've got a huge pile of books next to my bed waiting to be read. I just keep buying more and more books that look interesting to me but then never getting around to reading any of them. Maybe if I give you guys a list of what's there you could give me some help in choosing what to read next or what order to read them all in. OK here's what I've got -

* The 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Phillip Pullman
* 'Star of the Sea' by Joseph O'Connor
* 'Vernon God Little' by D.B. Pierre
* 'Catcher in the Rye' by J.D. Salinger
* 'Dispatches' by Michael Herr
* 'Morality for Beautiful Girls' by Alexander McCall Smith (yes, I've read the previous two books in this great series)
* 'A Brief History of Time' by Steven Hawking

... and some others I've forgotten. HELP!

The most recent book I've read and *LOVED* was definitely 'Rubicon' by Tom Holland! I'm not normally one for non-fiction but this book about the rise and fall of the Roman republic gripped me from first page to last. Its written in a very easy to read, contemporary style and is full of the most amazingly interesting personalities and events that I defy anyone not to like this book! Ancient Rome is one place where the truth really is more incredible than fiction!

The "His Dark Materials" trilogy is terrific. The concept of Daemons is brilliant -- it kind of makes you wonder what animal form your own personal familiar would take...

I just found out that Annie Proulx has written a "sequel" of sorts to her collection of short stories about Wyoming called "Open Range." I think the new book is called "Wyoming Stories 2" or something like that -- I'll probably look for it on Amazon.com one of these days.

I generally like Proulx as a writer, but I've never been able to get through "The Shipping News"...

I've gotten a little past half way in "A Breif Hisotry of Time" and I've followed the argument up to that point. Then Hawking takes this quantum leap in logic (pun intended) and I'm lost. I might as well be reading Sanskrit scrolls at that point for all I understand. I keep meaning to go back to it.

"Catcher in the Rye" is a must-read classic.

knowjack recommends "Vernon God Little". His post was in this thread within the last couple of days.

"Catcher in the Rye?" What a snoozer. Maybe I'm just uncultured. For a great classic, try "All Quiet on the Western Front," "Anna Karenina," or "Gone with the Wind."

I'm also still waiting for the 4th book in Geaorge RR Martin's Fire and Ice series to come out. Great reads, but it's been what? 4 years? *sigh*

I read this years ago when it came out. I have to admit that I didn't fully understand it all, but I didn't even take physics in high school. Instead, I took astronomy.

Also read this years ago, probably as a teenager. It had been my mother's copy, which she had read years earlier. [/QB][/QUOTE]

I'm re-reading, for about the 5th time, "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin. I first read it when I was about 14, and it raised my expectations for every book I ever read afterward. The story is charming, the imagery is amazing, every sentence is a little poem. (in case you haven't guessed, I'm a huge fan) This is my favorite book of all time (so far).

I also recommend anything by Robertson Davies and John Irving. I like my books quirky I guess.

Though I though Cedar Housr Rules was a great movie, the book was so much more and so differnet too. Tough I can't seem to get into any of his outher novels though.

"Winter's Tale" sounds familiar, but I can't place it. Jog my memory?

I tried reading Hawking’s book a few years ago and I had the same feeling—it was in a different language. Maybe I’ll take a look at it again and then again in a few more years, and eventually get the gist .

I’m one of those people who never really got into Catcher in the Rye either. My English teacher once said that it was one of those books people either loved or hated. I know tons of people who enjoy that book a lot. A book that probably is as widely read that I do like though, is “The Outsiders”, one of the best book I ever read in my teens that really meant something to me.

I discussed Catcher in the Rye with my mother-in-law (who is very well read) and I told her my low opinion of it. She said I was of the wrong generation to get it. She said if I were 10 years older and had experienced the '60s, it would likely have struck home.

"The Streeter" by Scott Ian Barry.

A pack of stray dogs, contaminated by a government chemical dump, become deranged, and stalk human prey.

It's quite good - and I'm not usually the thriller type.

sounds interesting kent, i'll look for it @ the bookstore tommorrow when i go

I'm not sure that anyone who didn't grow up in an age of conformity would "get" Catcher.

I must read Catcher again. I read it in the 60's when I was in high school. (So I guess I fall into the group that "gets it.") Salinger's 9 Stories have also long been a favorite of mine (and usually I don't like short stories.)

Love John Irving, even though his most recent work has not been up to par... Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany are my favorites. I love Garp and Hotel New Hampshire as well, but I saw them as movies before I read the books, and it's hard to separate them.

I recently began reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, but joined a start-up book club with (and at the behest of) my S.O. and now must read Interview with a Vampire in the next coupla weeks. I'm not terribly thrilled at the prospect of that, but I've never read anything by Anne Rice, so there is always the chance I will be surprised.